Emailed 24th November - second last mission blog!

Week 4, Transfer 13

What a beautiful day! The sky isn't blue and it looks like it's going to rain but I don't care! I'm happy after a positive week! We had Sammy, a young Iranian guy, come to church on Sunday. We were knocking just before we went to see Angela and John (the retired Church of England minister and his wife that we visited who we LOVE going to see. They're like our parents in this area haha) the first door we knocked, Sammy opened. This huge, solid guy with a big smile on his face. He's a gentle giant. It was his uncle's house but he was visiting. Before we could even ask for a return appointment he asked when he could meet with us to know more. He came to church on Sunday. We're praying that this is his time to accept the gospel because he would be such a kingdom builder and it would just bless his life so much.  

Here's a great story though: Brother David Spedding and Brother Brian Mahoney (home teaching companions. I like to refer to them as 'Alma and Amulek'). They were just out doing their home teaching like the faithful home teachers that they are...and they talk to this African lady from Malawi along their travels. They ask if she's Christian and she asks if they're Mormon, both replying in the affirmative. They ask if she'd be interested to have the sister missionaries over to her house, they proceed to get her contact details and address and even SET UP a return appointment. We then get a call later that night with the news of them finding a lady called Thoko, 2 kids (one 7 year old boy named Thompson and one 7 month year old baby called Matthew. Single Mum). We went to see her the next day when they scheduled the appointment, she was happy to see us but found herself quite busy with her kids so she asked for us to come back the next day, so off we went...we had a good short lesson with her. She told us her cousin goes to church down in Bristol. She's been taught by missionaries in Middlesbrough as well for 10 months a few years ago but apparently they didn't teach her anything and she was never able to get to church. We asked if she came to know if this was true if she would be baptised and of course, she said yes. We then confirmed her from church and committed her to read The Book of Mormon. She accepted. YAY!

Saturday night rolls around...the only person in her area where she lives that can pick her up is Brother Spedding (assistant ward mission leader), but he had coordination meeting with the missionaries at ward missionaries at the chapel at 9.30am so he would have to pick her up at 9.15 and that was too early for Thoko for she didn't have enough time to get the kids and herself ready and fed. We found ourselves in a small predicament. No-body could pick her up. They were all picking other people up or had meetings. Thoko called and told us we should call her cousin and talk to her about the situation because Thoko wasn't understanding that well. So we called Grandy, her cousin. Turns out she's been going to church for SEVEN years but hasn't been baptised because her partner doesn't want to get married. She has 2 kids, they're baptised and doing their priesthood duties. Long story cut short: we'd arranged for someone to go after Sunday School and pick up Thoko and her kids so she could at least come for sacrament meeting. Done. Thoko was SO excited. I've never seen someone so anxious to come to church. Sunday morning, she calls and tells us her son has a football game which she forgot about..so she can't come to church. I think she was more devestated than us! She was so looking forward to it. She made sure we were still coming around Monday evening and that we can come around as much as we wanted to teach her. She will be at church next week. Thoko is a wonderful, faithful woman who is doing the very best she can. Pray for her! Her cousin said that she knows if Thoko gets to church, she'll feel the spirit and she won't want to leave.

They are the 2 top miracles for the week. Member missionary work - I love it!!!!

Other than that, the week was fab! Poor Sister Ahola is dying of the plague but she'll be ok because she's Finnish and they're tough!

I'm just trying to enjoy every last second of this :) of being able to be set apart to serve and to preach the gospel. What a great opportunity.

For P-day today the whole zone is gathering at the Newcastle Chapel and the senior couple Elder and Sister Marsh are putting on a thanksgiving feast for us and we're watching ELF :)  I'm so privileged to be able to spend BOTH my Thanksgivings on my mission with Americans..because they obviously know WHAT IT DO wid dem thanksgiving foods!

Oh I FORGOT TO ADD the other best part about the week!!! THE SISTERS MEETING!!! So on Tuesday we had a sisters meeting with all the sisters in the northern 2 zones and 1 companionship from Harrogate. They all came to South Shields. Sister Zurcher and I did a whole 2 and a half hour meeting. We started at the beach and I did the 'be a little bolder' thing you sent me aaages ago! It was a nice little side note for what we were sharing :) All the sisters said it was a really good meeting. They're still thanking the zurch and I for it now. I think they needed it. Sisters are so hard on themselves, and we work differently to Elders..Elders can't seem to understand that. We're sisters in a mission built for elders..because that's all they've had for the majority for so long. It'll become more sister friendly over time no doubt. Anyway, so it was a really nice meeting. We got a photo at the beach and at the member's house we went to to do a bit of a Q & A session and a doctrinal discussion. It was great :)

We saw Talya and Abbie last week for FHE..and after the lesson they wanted to play a game..they asked me first if I wanted my coffin measured..( I'd never played this GAME before) so I said yeah alright go on then...so they get you to lay on the floor of the kitchen at church and close your eyes. Talyia starts to basically give me a pat down on my arms and legs and feet and head..and then after like 30 seconds or so of 'measuring' they POUR WATER ALL OVER THE FRONT OF YOU!!!!!! Hahahah it was hilarious. I then stayed in the kitchen and cut up Tal's coconut she bought so Sister Salcedo couldn't see the water on my skirt. They did the same to her, and then the same to Sister Ahola..and then we got this photo. I think Sister Ahola got more water than all of us but my splash was definitely bigger. Sneaky little rascals they are!! Haha

And the other pic is of Sister Dragoti dressed up as an Albanian Santa. Haha I love that crazy motra (that's 'sister' in Albanian)

 I'm pumped :) It's going to be a great week! I'll write a blog next week as it'll be my last one ever but until then, the church is true, Jesus Christ lives, he LOVES YOU ALL sososososo much and I know that living this gospel is the best way to be happy. Simple and sweet!

Love you and goodbye

Sister Kuhn

"How great shall be your Joy"

Week 2, Transfer 13

On the 8th of November 2014, a miracle happened. 

Ashleigh Howe, a recent convert, had the privilege and blessing of watching her beloved angel mother Mary Howe be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The angels were rejoicing and Heavenly Father was no doubt smiling down upon them both. Mary actually reminds me a bit of my mother (they were born in the same year too only a few months apart!).  They have very similar spirits :) I've really enjoyed spending time with her, getting to know her struggles and triumphs, and teaching her the gospel that has changed her life forever. I remember one moment after her baptism, everyone else was out getting food and talking, and we just sat with Mary, just for a brief moment and she held our hands, with tears in her eyes and said 'I'm so glad I met you girls'. The joy that comes from not only sharing the gospel, but witnessing and being a part of someone coming into the gospel fold is indescribable. Doctrine and Covenants 18:15 "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the Kingdom of my Father!" 

That's the highlight. That's all I wanted to write for this week.

Mary's Baptism

I just invite you all, if you're members of the church, to love your friends and family enough who aren't members, to show them how amazing the gospel is and invite them to come and see for themselves. To those who aren't members, I invite you to come and see how the gospel can help you in your lives, to make you the best version of yourselves, to feel the happiness that comes from living what Christ taught. The only way to know is to experience it for yourself, so come and see for yourself. You will never regret it. :)

I leave this all with you, with my testimony that I have a sure knowledge that God is real, we have a loving Father in Heaven who wants the best for us. He sent His son Jesus Christ to help us so we can be forgiven for our sins, and so we have a perfect example to follow so we can get back to Him. Everything, EVERYTHING, which has been revealed to us in its simplicity by prophets of God in the restored church of Jesus Christ, is to bless us, to make us happy and to feel joy. What more could you want? I know it probably sounds too good to be true. And you're right, it is too good, and it's also true, and it's free to all those who are willing to live it.

In the name of my brother, my Saviour, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

xxx Sister Kuhn

        

We saw Rebecca, an African lady who hasn't come to church in a while. She's suuuper pregnant. She has 3 CUTE AS kids though. We love visiting them. She also cooks the BEST AFRICAN FOOD EVER.

My week in a nutshell!

Week 1, Transfer 13

Mary is getting baptised THIS Saturday!!!!!!!!! I couldn't hold that in any longer :) After a lesson with her a week and a bit ago we really felt that she'd be ready sooner than three weeks (which is when we scheduled her to be baptised), so we talked to her, went through the baptismal questions and she basically showed that she was SO prepared and SO ready and that she can be baptised sooner ...so she's getting baptised the same night as Stacey who the elders are teaching. We're really excited for them both. It's amazing how Heavenly Father prepares his children through different stages in their lives to accept the gospel.

Mary is our priority at the moment really, but we're still trying to find and teach everyone else at the same time :) 

We visited Emma (a recent convert) and her daughter Jayla last week as well. We had a lesson with them and then did some service and took her 2 little crazy dogs out for walkies :) Jayla gave me beautiful dress-ups to wear during the lesson as you can see in the photo. 

We also had HALLOWEEN OooOoOOoOoohHhHhH 

We're in for 6pm unless we're at a member's house and they drive us home afterwards. We had a lesson at the Mahoney's house with Talyia and Abbie which was fab. The Mahoneys had all their house decked out on the inside with Halloween decorations, fake black webs and everything. I wish I took photos of it! We were out at about 4pm knocking doors right...I can't decide whether it's the BEST time to knock or the absolute worst because everyone opened their door with big bags of lollies (candy) expecting us to be trick-or-treaters (little did they know). Haha so I just told them we were dressing up as Mormon Missionaries because that's the scariest thing we could think of...we got a few laughs (and a few lollies!). Good old Halloween on ya mission!

 We met with our investigator Domigos from Angola but moved to Portugal 20-something years ago. Sister Salcedo was a godsend because she could communicate with him way better than we could haha He is practicing as a Jehovah Witness but really admires what we're doing. He really feels the spirit when we're in his home testifying and he told us he believes the Book of Mormon is true. He is an interesting man! We met him and his wife and daughter wayyyy back last transfer like when we first got to Shields and we're now starting to see some progression. That's one of the best things on a mission, when you're teaching someone the gospel and you can see that they are understanding and applying what we're saying in their lives and they are gaining a testimony of it for themselves. That's the best :) 

It's a party with Sister Salcedo in the flat. We have way too much fun together. Time is going so fast, I can't believe it was my last fast and testimony meeting as a representative of Jesus Christ serving as one of His full-time missionaries. The Stake President, President Spencer, was at Shields ward as well. He came up and spoke to me after sacrament meeting. He posed such a great question and I've really been pondering it deeply. He asked me if I've made a plan of how I'm going to keep my covenants  I’ve made in the temple for the rest of my life after my mission. It's something that I've been thinking a lot about. A mission is a good foundation block for someone's life, and I hope to maintain the good habits of study and bearing my testimony, but I want to build on it and keep building. This is only the beginning! I am really grateful President Spencer took the time to talk to me about a plan for after my mission. 

I'll end on this lovely story...Abbie and Talyia weren't able to come to church yesterday because they had to go somewhere with Talyia's family, so they texted us late Sunday afternoon asking if we could do a testimony meeting because they weren't at church. So we met up with them around 8pm. Cold as anything outside, we sat/stood on the footpath near an oval by the side of the road, said an opening prayer, and we all bore our testimonies. Since it was Abbie's idea to have a testimony meeting,(she not even being a member of the church yet, wanted to bear her testimony but was a bit shy) so Sister Salcedo, Sister Ahola, and I went first one after the other. Then Abbie bore such a powerful, simple, sweet testimony that she's so grateful for the gospel and the church in her life and it makes her so happy and she knows it's true. It was simple, but so powerful. I could feel the Holy Ghost, we all could. It was such a quiet moment, but I really treasured that mini testimony meeting we had last night in the freezing cold. Talyia bore her testimony at the end as well. She is the most mature, strong, amazing 13 year old I've ever met! She joined the church under a year ago, her Mum is a member and super nice but doesn't attend church, and Tal's sort of doing it all on her own. I just admire her so much. Abbie as well. Those 2 girls have no idea the full scope of influence they have and will have on the people around them for the rest of their lives if they stay strong in the gospel. They are an inspiration to me and all the members of the South Shields ward as well. It was a wonderful way to end a great week :) 

So that was my week in a nutshell! 

Have a great week everyone, I know I will!!!! 

Love you !

SIster Kuhn

We are in a trio for my last transfer!

Week 6, Transfer 12
It's now Monday - first day of my last transfer. Weird feeling.
On the upside, we had transfer calls on Thursday last week and transfer day on Saturday (a one-time thing the MTC had to do). We are in a trio! Sister Salcedo from Barcelona, Spain (originally from Peru) has joined us after 1 transfer serving in Hull and she was being trained down in Huddersfield by Sister Decker before that. Sister Salcedo…man, she is a fireball! She's 25 years YOUNG, confident, mature, hilarious, fun, loving, kind, crazy (just like us) and not afraid to be herself. We all clicked super fast and we're excited to work hard this transfer. We are squished in a tiny flat meant for 2 missionaries but it's ok because I'm getting kicked out in 5 or so weeks anyway.
We had Stake Conference on the weekend and it was fantastic! Sunderland Stake has such an inspired Stake President, President Spencer. The whole Presidency are just amazing! There were no topics assigned to the speakers on purpose so that it was truly inspired and coming from the hearts of every speaker. It was a testimony builder to listen to the speakers as they gave talks they felt inspired to give. They were all of such great quality, the spirit was so strong. We also had a less-active lady called Julie we'd never met come with another member who lived close by to her. She just felt like she should come to Stake Conference after years of being away from church. She's probably one of the nicest sweetest women you will ever meet. We're seeing her today :) 
Brother Kennington, the Stake Patriach, gave a wonderful talk. I liked one thing he said especially:
'Life isn't about waiting for the rain and the storms to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain'. I thought that was really cute :) and a good message too!
I know I'm jumping around the days of the week but that's my brain for you! So on Friday the Elders' investigator Rachel got BAPTISED!!!!!!!!!!! It was so good :) We're really happy for her. Also, Ashleigh's Mum Mary came to the baptism (and Saturday session of conference). After the baptism we met with Mary and had a quick lesson with her. We haven't been able to see her for a few weeks because she caught an illness. We asked her how her Book of Mormon reading was going and she said at first, it was just a book, she'd look at the cover from time to time, never really read any of it and never felt anything...but then she decided to read it, because she had to be at home all the time, and she said she just felt it all clicked together, it all made sense. We scheduled her for baptism on the 14th of November in the same lesson. She has been embraced by the people in this ward and she has never felt so much sincere and genuine love and concern from people about her well-being etc. Love really does change people. Love is the most powerful feeling in the world. It comes from God. It's such a blessing to be able to witness the miracle of Mary. Now, we know that Satan is hard at work, and with basically ALL our super solid and amazing investigators he's won with them for the time being. In the last week or 2 we've basically stopped teaching most of our investigators, but it's okay. I've been a missionary long enough that it doesn't (and never really has) bothered me that people choose to not accept the gospel right now. I know that Heavenly Father has the power and capacity to change people's hearts, and I've seen that happen many times, but when it doesn't happen, and someone doesn't decide to partake of this everlasting goodness of the gospel, it's just simply meant to be that way. I (like to) remember that, when these sort of things happen. I don't have a problem with disappointment now…and if I do get disappointed, it's not for long.
The blessing of the gospel isn't just about church and helping us get closer to God (however that’s basically its primary purpose), but when we live the gospel and essentially get closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we are blessed in so many more ways in our lives, whether it be in work, school, university, family, friends, talents and abilities etc. It just enhances your whole being, your whole life, everything!
I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I can't deny that...and I only know it because I've put in the time and effort to find out. That's the simple reason. If we're willing to put in the time and effort and ACT in faith, we will be blessed with so much more than we are asking or searching for. I've seen and experienced that kind of 'conversion' many many times. I have a testimony that Christ lives, He is real, He loves and knows each of us by name. How cool is that?!
Keep it real, study your scriptures, pray sincerely, attend church, apply what you learn as you do all 3 of those things with a willing heart, and you will find happiness. You just will! It's a promise :)
Until next week!
Laaaaaaave you byeSister Kuhn  xoxoxox
P.S Shoutout to the best sister in the WORLD who sent me a WHOLE BOX full of timtams to share with the kind people of England...if they make it that far. Ha! THANK YOU. Much appreciated. It will keep me awake for the next 5 weeks :) 

Baptismal service in Newcastle

Sophie and I at her baptism in Newcastle on Saturday. I taught her whilst on exchange 2 weeks ago and I told her I'd be at her baptism so we went  :)  

A recent convert, Angela. Newcastle has a massive Chinese membership. I love the Chinese people!! The most sweet kind hearted loving people ever! 

Another hardworking week in South Shields flies by!

Quick blog :)

If any of you has seen the Grand Prix  or any worldwide famous car race, and you see how fast they all go by the starting line each lap? You blink, and they go past flying in less than a second. Well, that's how this last week was for Sister Ahola and me!

 

I'll first answer the questions Mother dearest wrote in her email this week:

 

​How has your proselyting week been?

It's been busy! We've had our ups and downs with people we've found and are just being the patient, hardworking missionaries that we are. We found a young lad called George last night. He and a wonderful lady who doesn't come to church anymore are the only 2 successes we had in 3 hours of finding and going by less-actives. But you know what? It was worth it!  We're seeing him this evening. What I love about being a missionary is that the message we share is 100% good for everyone in every way at any time anywhere at any stage in their life. That to me alone is a testimony that it is God's gospel we're sharing, because He loves everyone and has a perfect plan for EVERYONE. No wonder it applies to all mankind! The message aka the gospel is also free, and it gives SO much more back to those who accept it and live it. I sometimes wonder why everyone isn't running up to us asking how THEY can have eternal and everlasting happiness! Then I remember what it says in the scriptures about people seeking truth 'they know not where to find it', so it's our job as members (not just full-time missionaries) to SHARE the gospel, so people CAN know where to find it and choose to accept it, live it, and see how it blesses them and their families' lives.

 

How is the weather?

The weather is getting COLD...BUT blue skies mostly every day. Rain and grey skies are rare! As long as there's blue somewhere in the sky, Sister Kuhn is happy about the weather. In saying that though, I've had some of the funnest moments on my mission running around in the rain (or hail) lol Hopefully the weather keeps up until AT LEAST the 4th of December...

 

 Your district?

Oh I love my district. Elder Boyer is our District Leader. He instructs and prepares a meeting each week where we meet with the district. It's a chance to practice teaching and using our skills and knowledge, receving revelation for the people we're working with, and feeling spiritually strengthened. He also calls us every night at 9.30pm after we plan for the next day (from 9-9.30pm) to follow up on our day, making sure we're in our flat and we're safe, give us instruction and advice on the people we're teaching etc. He's a busy guy! I served with him when I was in Beverley all those months ago only for 6 weeks, so it's funny that now he's my District Leader! We also have Elder Price who came out with Sister Ahola, so they're best buds. He's being trained by Elder McBride who has about 6 months left of his mission. All from America - Sister Ahola and I are the only one's who aren't. We have a close district, all in the same ward, we all get along great and we all work hard.

 

The ward?

Oh man, that ward is AMAZING. It never ceases to amaze me how dedicated, helpful, loving, strong and kind all the members are in the wards I've had the pleasure of serving in here. It's like WOW! South Shields is no exception :) The leaders are all fab and they're so willing to come out and help us teach or have us teach in their home, have us over for tea...all sorts. I'm so so grateful for the wards I've served in. All have been just marvellous!

I really like Shields (that's what the cool kids call it now days. Aint nobody got time to say 'South Shields'). I love being by the beach. It's very peaceful there.

 

Sister Kuhn and Sister Monroy

I went on exchange to Newcastle last week as well. I love that place :) The ward is also great there too! I was with Sister Monroy from Guatemala. She has a very interesting mission story! She served in Colombia for 4-6 months because of her visa..and then she came here and she is trying really hard to learn English better. She is a convert and she is so much fun haha I just love her. I test out my horrible Spanish all the time with her, especially over the phone. She laughs because she doesn't get to speak Spanish very often..but really we all know she's just laughing at my Spanish. We can have about a 15 second conversation so far..I'm trying to increase it to 30 seconds and then a minute and next thing you know I will have learnt Spanish perfectly! I had SO much fun with her on exchange. She is so fiery and powerful! A testimony like a massive boulder that just comes rolling on in, in every finding or teaching situation. I loved the time I was able to spend with her. She and Sister Rossi have a baptism this Saturday. I hope we can get an investigator and go to it with them to see it. Sister Rossi is from Italy. She goes home at the end of the transfer and she came down to Shields with Sister Ahola :) She also really enjoyed herself. They live with the Newcastle University sisters so I was able to be in a 4-man flat again which was splendid! I go on exchange with one of the uni sisters this next week. So exciting!!! I really love being able to serve these sisters. They are SO powerful and so special in their own way. I learn more from them than they do from me I know that's for sure! I'm also becoming more and more comfortable being a leader on my own (without an STL companion anymore). It's teaching me a lot more about leadership and about myself which I'm really enjoying. What a privilege it is to serve in the church. Not only do things get planned and accomplished, but there is always so much growth when you serve others.

 

We're doing a lot of teaching and finding and just running around like chickens with our heads cut off!

Week 5 up next! Our week is already looking scoopa doopa busy - so I'm sure it'll feel like a blink of an eye until I'm sitting down on this computer writing to you all again!

 

I also got many emails this week which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm sorry if I don't reply to them all this time around. Time goes so fast and we have a time limit on how long to email for. Gotta be speedy! I'll see all you Aussie peeps soon-ish anyway! Warm it up over there for me! :)

 

Love y'all !

Sister Kuhn

 

 

Geordie language alert

BLOG TIME!

Hello everyone! Yes, I'm alive. I know it's been a week or 2 or 3 since me last blog (Geordie language alert) but I've landed back on my feet from the whirlwind I found myself in the past 2 weeks training and being in a new area and I'm ready to get back to writing fantastic tales about South Shields! ​

First item of business, I now speak with a thick Geordie accent. I call boys 'lads' and instead of using 'my' everything is 'me'...instead of YES it's 'aye' or 'why aye man' if it's a HECK YES, 'no worries' has turned into 'no bother', 'goodbye' is 'turrah!', and 'good' is now 'canny'.
Geordie Land <3

Ok I was just kidding......sort of......not really. I don't have the thick accent but the vocabulary here is rubbing off on us! Oh that's another thing, instead of 'me' it's 'us' but you're still only talking about yourself. I forget if some of these words are words we use anyway..I've basically just lost all sense of reality and am so busy here that I forget what life is like not being a missionary in South Shields. Oh well :) Anyway so the vocab is a lot different to...  well, everywhere else. I imagine it's a lot like the Darwin/Northern Territory slang that the rest of Australia doesn't ever use, but here the accent is on a whole different level as well. I love it though it's mad fun trying to understand and then copy their accent.

Secondly, the photos are of the beach that we live close to, we ran there last week in the morning, it was LOVELYYY. We will be spending time at the beach today also relaxing :) and the night time picture is our balcony (Halelujah!). It's prettyyyy gangsta ay. 

 

We also visited these lovely members on Saturday, and they have THE BIGGEST DOG OF MY LIFE. AMERICAN BULLDOG. He's deaf and even though he has blue eyes he's not blind as well luckily. He's 14 stone! Which is about 89kg for all the people who don't know what a stone is. HUGE. A big softie though, I like him :) we're good mates now. I think his name is Bronson, but he's deaf anyway so it doesn't matter to him. He knows sign language and that's how they tell him to sit or lie down etc. It was so cool watching them communicate with him. He's more obedient than dogs who can hear!!

Another photo has 2 parts - the one of Salt Lake temple (front and back). We were walking to an appointment and Sister Ahola saw a Lexus (her Dad likes Lexus cars) and so she got the pass along card out and we wrote that on it and put it on the windshield haha it was crack up. The poor bloke probably thought he had a ticket!

I could write for ages about this area and the people etc. But I'll just skim over bits and pieces. The elders had a baptism on Friday, Sister Ahola and I sang at it, 2 of our investigators came, John and Abbie. Abbie is 13, she's mates with a recent convert called Talyia who is also 13 and she is a BOSS of a missionary. Always referring her friends to the missionaries and all sorts. Basically, everyone in this ward and everyone we teach are super great. We're always laughing with someone about something up here in the Great North!

I don't have long to go now. Time is a tickin!

I've learnt a lot of life lessons through this experience. Not only has it strengthened my testimony immensely, it has taught me so many things about the general wants and desires of people in the world (which is to be happy). It's taught me to pace myself, take a day at a time if I need to, and just press forward like it says in the scriptures...with a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God. I feel a bit like a wise old owl coming to the end of my mission. A wise old owl with so so so much more to learn lol ah well, for me, right now, this is the most important thing I could be doing, so I'm going to do my best at it!

Love you all, thanks for the support. Forever grateful. Seriously!

Peace x

Sister Kuhn

Love the sisters!!!

Ello there!

I don't have much time! South Shields is lovely, we're by the beach, yay! I have 3 minutes so I have to go but if you could put on the blog that I'll reply to everyone's emails next week or something.

It's been hectic here though. Teaching and finding etc. The last sisters left us a legacy which was nice :) Lots of things to do! I'll tell you more about investigators and people later. The members are solid too!

My new comp/daughter is called Sister Ahola, she is from Finland (and very proud of it too!) She's got lovely long hair and speaks the 2nd most difficult language to learn in the world :)

There are some pics below of transfer meeting with some sisters, some going home, some still here. Love em all!  

Transfer, Training and Finding Joy in the Journey..

Week 6, Transfer 11

Ah, we meet again blog readers!

So it was transfer calls on Saturday night. This is going to be hilarious. Ok, so it all started once upon a time when I came to the England Leeds Mission...I was out 9 weeks (1.5 transfers) when I got a call that I was being emergency transfers (ET'd) to a little place called Skipton where I was for 3 weeks and then I was called to train. So, out 3 months, called to train, fast forward 15 months and here we are, I have 3 months LEFT of my mission, and what happens? I get called...to TRAIN!!!!!!! So, for my last 2 transfers I will be training a new missionary. I meet her tomorrow at transfer meeting. I just think it's hilarious, but at least it'll keep me going because boy does your mind play all sorts of horrible tricks on you when it knows you're going home soon! 

On top of that, I'm moving (but still staying in the north) to a place BY THE SEA called South Shields, which I am very excited about indeed. I went on exchange there a few weeks ago thank goodness! Sister Zurcher and I will still be Sister Trainer Leader companions but she will stay in Darlo and get Sister Wynder up here. She goes home after this next transfer so who knows what will happen then, but Sister Zurcher and I will continue going on exchanges and we have some great plans for the sisters of the north! Including a sisters’ retreat where we will be able to have them all together and train them and do some unity activities. Oh it's going to be so good! 

I've sort of got it all smacked down on me all at once, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Heavenly Father knows me so well. I sometimes forget that. 

The last 3 months flew by, so I imagine the next 3 will go even faster, because I'll be so busy! 

I just know that Heavenly Father is so mindful of us, even when we think He's not. Especially in our trials and hard times, He's especially there. He just loves us so much. I'm almost finished the Book of Mormon again too. My insights keep getting deeper and my understanding grows so much the more I read them. I've really enjoyed my time in Darlo but I know that I'm needed in South Shields with my new companion. I know she is needed there also! I'm really excited to embark on this new adventure of my mission, the home stretch. 

Finding joy in the journey is something that I've been hearing and learning a lot about recently either in church, or in the Ensign or on lds.org etc. I just love President Uchtdorf's talk on it. If you haven't read it, go on lds.org, look it up and read it! We need to FIND the joy, search for it, and also remember that sometimes there is simply no joy whatsoever in some things that happen to us, but that's the time to remember that joy will come. It will. Remember that. 

Well, that's the main news for the week everyone, so I'm going to go now :) Gotta pack! 

LOVE

Sister Kuhn

The sisters in Billingham Zone! Sister Suss, Sister Nigido, Sister Zurcher, and me. Only 2 sets, but we were a force to be reckoned with! 

This guy! Elder Ormsby - tryna be a skuxx kid! Was in his district for a transfer. Aussies represent! 

Oh and while we were on exchange last week, Sister Kumire made us AFRICAN FOOD for lunch! We ate it with our hands! It was SO good I ate almost ALL of it!!

The lilies from the flowers my Mother and Father sent us! Loved em!! I put them next to my desk :)

             Hahahahahahaha this is my favourite photo of Sister Zurcher and I. We love each other.

So, Martin is a big fan of the Darlo football club "The Quakers". He showed us their catalogue or news or whatever it is with all the players names. I made a comment about this guy, Leon Scott..next thing I know, Martin thinks I am madly in love with him. Last week he texts us saying 'I got you a present'..it was a signed photo of the player hahahaha I keep telling him Leon Scott works in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory as an Oompa Loompa. MAH-TIN (that's what we call Martin, in a really posh English accent) if you're reading this with Trish, tell Trish she's NAUGHTY! Haha love you guys! I'm Leon Scott's No#1 fan now apparently! Hahahaha

And there's a progression drawing I've been doing for a while whenever I get a spare moment. It's looking pretty cool! Note the Inca Crosses with the pink middle! Nice touch ;)